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Etymology
History
Hamsa
Yoga
See also
References
Soham (Sanskrit)
Soham or Sohum (सो ऽहम् so'ham[1]) is a Hindu mantra, meaning "I am" in Sanskrit.[2][3]
In Vedic philosophy it means identifying Brahman with the universe or ultimate Brahman.[2]
The mantra is also inverted from so 'ham (the sandhi of saḥ + aham) to ham + sa. The combination of so 'haṃ haṃsaḥ has also been interpreted as "I am Swan", where the swan symbolizes the Atman.[4]
Etymology
The term so'ham is related to sa, and the phrase translates to "I am", according to Monier-Williams.[5] Interpreted as a nominal sentence, it can also be read as "I am the absolute" or "Great truth".[2][3] The term is found in Vedic literature, and is a phrase that identifies "One with the universe or the ultimate one reality".[2]
History
This phrase is found in Principal Upanishads such as the Isha Upanishad (verse 16), which ends:
- (...) तेजो यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत्ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि ॥१६॥
- tejo yat te rūpaṃ kalyāṇatamaṃ tat te paśyāmi yo 'sāv [asau puruṣaḥ] so'ham asmi
- "The light which is thy fairest form, I see it. I am what that is" (trans. Max Müller)[6]
Soham, or "I am That", is very common in ancient and medieval literature.[7] Some examples include:
- Sannyasa Upanishads[7] such as Naradaparivrajaka Upanishad,[8] Nirvana Upanishad,[9] Ashrama Upanishad,[10] Maitreya Upanishad[11] and Satyayaniya Upanishad.[10]
- Yoga Upanishads such as Dhyanabindu Upanishad[12][13][14] and Yogashikha Upanishad[15][16]
- Hamsa Upanishad[17]
- Gandharva Tantra[18][19]
- Kali Tantra[19][20]
- Kularnava Tantra[21][22][23][24]
- Mahanirvana Tantra[25][26][27]
- Niruttara Tantra[13]
- Bhaja Gaureesam[28][better source needed]
- Gowresa Ashtakam[29][better source needed]
- Shakthi Mahimnah Stotram[30][better source needed]
- Tripurasundari Vijaya Sthava[31][better source needed]
Adi Shankara's[32] Vakya Vritti[33] subsequent works in the Nath tradition foundational for Hatha yoga.
- Matsyendranath's Yogavishaya
- Gorakshanath's Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati[34]
- Gorakshanath's Yoga Bija[35]
- Gorakshanath's Goraksha Shataka[36][37]
- Jñāndev's Lakhota[38]
- Jñāndev's Yogapar Abhangamala[39]
- foundational for Swara yoga the original script Shiva Svarodaya[40][41][42]
as well as the classical yoga treatises Gheranda Samhita[43][44][45][46] and Shiva Samhita[47] all make mention of soham and hamsa describing its significance and when teaching uniformly teaches So on inhalation and ham on exhalation.
This traditional practice in its several forms and its background is described in numerous other books.[32][48][49][50][51][52][53][54]
Hamsa
Swami Muktananda - although teaching the traditional So on inhalation and ham on exhalation as a letter from 1968 to Franklin Jones reveals[55] - later published a book[56] teaching Ham on inhalation and sa on exhalation. This practice is described in several later books all referring to Muktananda.[57][58][59][60][61]
The teaching of Ham on inhalation and sa on exhalation is allegedly alluded to in a text of Kaśmir Śaivism, the Vijnana Bhairava:
Air is exhaled with the sound SA and inhaled with the sound HAM. Then reciting of the mantra HAMSA is continuous[62]
However, this verse 155b is not found in the Vijnana Bhairava first published in 1918 in the Kashmir Series of Text and Studies[63] but is quoted from a commentary by the Abhinavagupta disciple Kṣemarāja[64] in his Shiva Sutra Vimarshini (commentary on the Shiva Sutras)[63] in later editions of Vijnana Bhairava.[65]
Yoga
When used for meditation, "Sohum" acts as a natural mantra to control one's breathing pattern, to help achieve deep breath, and to gain concentration.
- Sooooo... is the sound of inhalation, and is remembered in the mind along with that inhalation.
- Hummmm... is the sound of exhalation, and is remembered in the mind along with that exhalation.
Soham is also considered a mantra in Tantrism and Kriya Yoga, known also as Ajapa mantra, Ajapa Gayatri, Hamsa Gayatri, Hamsa mantra, prana mantra, Shri Paraprasada mantra, paramatma-mantra, and as such used notably on its own, in the meditation practice ajapa japa[66] and in the kriya practice shabda sanchalana.[67]
See also
References
The jiva comes out with the letter Ha and gets in again with the letter Sa
6.53 The prana goes out with sound "ham" and goes in with the word "sa", and all beings naturally chant the mantra "Hamsa, Hamsa" (while exhaling and inhaling).
We are said to exhale with Ha and to inhale with Sa
Ham-Sah is the pathway breath takes in living creatures. This mantra exists in the form of exhalation and inhalation
"Ha" is the outgoing breath and "sa" is the ingoing breath.
All beings say the ajapa Gayatri, which is the expulsion of the breath by Hangkara, and its inspiration by Shakara
The Mahanirvana Tantra unequivocally specifies an identity between jiva and Brahman (...) The idea of "So'ham" (I am She/He or I am one with the Supreme) is explicitly emphasized in this Tantric text.
[The psyche] exits [the body] with the sound ha and reenters with the sound sa.
The Shiva Svarodaya scripture's verse 51 says, "The process of exhalation is said to contain the letter ham, and the inhalation contains the letter sa."
With the sound 'Sah' the breath goes in; with the sound 'Ham' the breath comes out
Gheranda Samhita 5:84 indicates, "Breath of every person, in entering, makes the sound of 'sa', and in coming out (bahiryati), that of 'ham.' "
Soham is a universal mantra vibration, with Sooo.... being remembered with inhalation and Hummm... being remembered with exhalation.
The Hamsa symbolizes knowledge and the life-force or cosmic breath (prana), 'ham' being its exhalation, and 'sa', its inhalation which is regarded as the return of the individual life-force to brahman, its cosmic source.
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(..) you will hear the sound sooo in the inhalation and hammmmm in the exhalation.
Harmonize the repetition of mantra with the breathing as follows: With "So" take it in and with "ham" bring it out. (...) When one's mind is fixed on "So" with the incoming breath and on "ham" with the outgoing breath it is mantra-japa. (...) Your beauty, your energy, your duty, your religion, your Guru and guide; your study, worship and prayer -- all lie in engaging yourself to the remembrance and repetition of "So'ham", "So'ham". This is my instruction, this is my precept. This is to be followed or practiced, and reflected upon devoutly.
Sit quietly, and watch the going out and coming in of the breath . . . Bhairava says that as the breath comes in, it makes the sound ham, and as the breath goes out, it makes the sound sa. This is known as ajapa-japa, the unrepeated mantra repetition. One who simply watches the breath, being aware that it is coming in and going out with the sounds ham and sa, is doing ajapa-japa, and this is the true way of practicing mantra.
Listen carefully to your breath; you will hear the sound So with inhalation and Ham with exhalation.
- Satyananda Saraswati (1989). Yoga and Kriya: A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of (2 ed.). Munger, Bihar, India: Bihar School of Yoga. p. 668 ff. ISBN 978-81-85787-08-4.
Bibliography
- Olivelle, Patrick (1992). The Samnyasa Upanisads. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195070453.
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